Should You Drink Celery Juice? A Nutritionist Weighs In on Busy Philipps’ New Go-To

Busy Philipps is all of us when it comes to self-improvement. She talks to her pals, finds out what works for them, and tries it for herself. In her latest attempt to be her best self, Philipps is sipping on celery juice.

Philipps shared what she learned, like that you’re supposed to drink the juice within 10 minutes of it being prepared.

“Apparently it’s supposed to do all of these wonderful things for you and something with Gwyneth Paltrow and I don’t know but I’m on board,” she said, laughing. “So now I’m drinking celery juice. It’s really good.”

The television star and Whole30 survivor also talked about her motivation for adding celery juice to her daily routine: “Just trying to find the path to my best life and feeling good, and so if this is one of the things that I can do to do that, then I’ll do it,” she said.

To find out more details on the potential perks of this buzzy juice, we went to Health’s contributing nutrition editor, Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD. “Many people think of celery as a throw-away veggie with no nutritional value,” Sass says. “But it actually packs some key health protective nutrients. In addition to being low in calories and a source of fiber, celery provides some folate, vitamin K, potassium, and antioxidants.”

Sass also says eating celery pre-workout has been shown to boost endurance, and enhance strength training performance. Not to mention, each stick is packed with several potent anti-inflammatory substances.

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And Philipps might be onto something when it comes to sipping her celery juice stat: “Consuming celery shortly after it's been chopped or blended preserves more of its nutrients,” Sass says.

But don’t feel pressured to stuff a bunch of stalks in your juicer and prepare a 12-oz. glass of the stuff. “I think it’s fine to do, but I don’t think it’s essential,” Sass says. “You’ll get similar benefits from eating celery and plenty of other fresh veggies in a variety of ways throughout day.”

Want to add more of the crunchy veggie to your diet? Sass has a few suggestions.

“Instead of just drinking straight celery juice, you can blend raw celery into smoothies, along with other veggies and fruit, incorporate it into omelets, or finely chop to add to oatmeal or Greek yogurt,” she says. “Or eat it raw to help satisfy a crunch tooth. Many of my clients like to eat celery at the end of breakfast as a palate cleanser. I find it can help shut off a sweet tooth, so you're less tempted by office goodies.”